Well known around the Pacific Northwest, the 160-foot Schooner Zodiac will celebrate its 100th birthday at an Open House on Sunday, May 19th, at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal in Fairhaven from 11 a.m – 4 p.m.
The ship operates from March to October with varied trips from student groups to themed trips into the San Juan Islands to 3-hour sails on Bellingham Bay. Celebrating a 100th birthday is a remarkable feat for a wooden vessel, and some special events have been planned to commemorate the event. Displays highlighting Zodiac’s history and the ship itself will be open for deck tours. schoonerzodiac.com
The Schooner Zodiac is also partnering with these local groups to help celebrate:
Village Books will have a pop-up store and host two local authors for books signings: Tom Crestodina with “Working Boats” & “Working Boats Coloring Book” and Todd Warger with “Shipyard.”
Robert d’Arcy of Schooner Martha will interview Captains Tim & Calen Mehrer on key moments from the Zodiac’s decades-long restoration and plans for the future, with an audience Q&A.
Kolby LaBree of Good Time Girls Guided Tours will be running her 1920s Bellingham photo slide show throughout the day.
There will be Zodiac merchandise for sale and a kids corner with maritime-themed activities.
The Schooner Zodiac was built in 1924 in Maine for the Johnson & Johnson family then spent several decades as a bar pilot boat for the San Francisco Bar Pilots. Captain Tim Mehrer and a group of friends and family acquired the ship in 1975 and with a team of volunteers spent the next years restoring the ship on Lake Union. Since moving permanently to Bellingham, the ship is proud of the annual trips they’ve created with local businesses, like “Books A’Sail” with Village Books, the “Nautical Knitters” with NW Yarns, and “Ales & Sails” with Kulshan Brewery. Their newest event, “Beats on the Bay” with the Community Boating Center, has been met with an overwhelmingly positive response (the ship brings passengers and a band aboard, then anchors off Boulevard Park where kayakers raft up in front of the ship and pedestrians line the boardwalk for an evening concert).
